Kancho Kids

There are many books and movies based on the premise
commonly referred to as a “fish out of water.” That is, you
take a person of one culture/race/age/gender and place them
in a different culture/race/age/gender. You then step back
and watch the hilarity ensue as each learns about the
other.

This
web page chronicles the travails of an American in Japan.
In this case, a Black-American teaching English to Japanese
students in what we call junior high school (children around
the age of 10 to 12 years old). We see, through his humorous
writings, a culture, at times, very different from ours.

Now, the Japanese culture has been around for a long time.
Over that time, it has evolved into being a very complex, and
to a certain extent, caste oriented system. One of the ways
of describing a complex system is to note it’s paradoxes.
These tend to illustrate not only the tension within any
system, but also the range of behaviors exhibited within that
system.

This American teacher, using the lens of his own culture
to examine his surroundings finds startling, and many times
humorous, insights. I can’t quote anything here because he
has copyrighted his site (Bad JuJu) but believe me when I say
you will probably want more after reading everything
there.

Warning: There is strong language in his writings. If that
offends you, do not go there.